Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their partnership commitment to the Public Health Responsibility Deal prevents or inhibits them from halting the growth of sales of food infused with alcohol that can be sold to children under the age of 16.

Earl Howe: Organisations signing up as partners to the Public Health Responsibility Deal commit voluntarily to play their part in improving public health. They lead the way in positively shaping and creating an environment that supports people to make informed, balanced choices and help them live healthier lives.
	Under the Licensing Act 2003, any food item infused with alcohol whose strength exceeds 0.5% at the time of sale is classed as alcohol and cannot be sold to children under the age of 18. The Act sets out a number of exemptions to this definition including liqueur confectionery, which is further defined by the Act.
	The Licensing Act 2003 requires licensed premises to operate an age verification policy. Through the Responsibility Deal, 68 companies, including 12 supermarket chains, have committed voluntarily to implement this requirement by ensuring effective action is taken in all their premises to reduce and prevent under-age sales of alcohol, by applying the standards set out in either the Challenge 21 or Challenge 25 schemes.

Antisemitism

Lord Palmer of Childs Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of whether the murder of Jewish and Druze Israelis in a Jerusalem Synagogue has heightened security fears in the United Kingdom at Jewish synagogues and schools.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Association of Chief Police Officers' National Community Tension Team regularly produces a 'Community Impact Assessment' which contains an assessment on the state of community relations. This includes the level of antisemitism. This material is not shared with the public, as it contains operational policing information. The National Community Tension Team liaises with the Community Security Trust at the national level on behalf of the police service. Police Forces with significant Jewish communities liaise closely at the local level.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers also publishes its recorded antisemitic crime data annually on the True Vision website at:
	http://www.report-it.org.uk/hate_crime_data1
	Additionally, the Government is in daily contact with the Jewish community and the police who are working closely with Jewish communities and organisations to monitor tensions and to provide reassurance, security measures and safety advice. This ensures that we are alive to any issues and concerns of the Jewish community and can respond quickly. This is a model of good practice cited around the world.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of reports of systematic sexual violence against women in Burma, as documented by the Women’s League of Burma in their recent report; and what action they plan to take under their Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative to help prevent further violence and to bring the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of the reports, not least the most recent one from the Women’s League of Burma, alleging sexual violence on Commander during his visit to Burma in January. In October the Minister of State for the Department of International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne), took up the issue when he met with Burma’s Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. The UK has allocated over £300,000 to projects supporting the prevention of sexual violence in Burma. Prevention of sexual violence in conflict is also a key element of our defence the part of the Burmese army. These are extremely concerning and we continue to press the Burmese military and government to hold perpetrators to account. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue directly with the Commander in Chief of the Burmese military and the Northern engagement with Burma and is included, along with the importance of human rights and the rule of law, in any education courses we deliver to the military in Burma.

CAFCASS

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff dealing with child protection cases involving children from minority religious faiths, such as the Charedim, have the necessary expertise to assess the impact of faith on those children when they advise the courts.

Lord Faulks: All Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) practitioners are qualified social workers with experience of working with children and families to represent the best interests of children within family proceedings. It is the practitioner's responsibility to identify any diversity issues, including a child or family’s faith, in any case and to assess any safeguarding or welfare issues. Practitioners will analyse each individual child's circumstances, taking account of relevant aspects of the Welfare Checklist in section 1 of the Children Act 1989, when assessing their needs and how these are best met.
	Each Cafcass service area has a responsibility to identify the diversity needs of groups of children living in their area who they are working with, and to take action accordingly. Cafcass’ Equality and Diversity Strategy (2013-15) explains how it shares best practice across teams and service areas, collating lessons learnt from a range of sources. Where staff attend training courses, the learning is shared with the rest of the service area and communicated to Cafcass’ group of Diversity Ambassadors. Representatives from local groups are invited to team meetings to discuss the work that they do and practitioners are encouraged to use these groups as a resource when considering casework decisions.

Caribbean

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 November (HL Deb, col 678), in which specific islands and with which specific funding streams they are prioritising the Caribbean; and whether they consider it to be a priority.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Caribbean is an important region for the UK, with which we have many historic and cultural ties, as well as shared interests and goals. As such, the UK wants to support the development of prosperous, resilient and secure economies in the region. We organise our work in this area under three broad categories: energy security, education, and security, all of which were discussed at the UK-Caribbean Forum Ministerial Forum in June of this year.
	The Department for International Development (DfID) are currently launching a new set of development programmes which will run from 2015 to 2020. The UK has committed approximately £75 million between 2011 and 2015 and will invest a similar amount in the 2015-2020 period. The UK also accounts for approximately 15 per cent of the EU’s development funds, as well as being a major contributor to the World Bank and Caribbean Development Bank funds being deployed in the region, and has contributed some 48 per cent of the total funding for the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR). In addition, while DfID are the largest source of Government funding in the region, the Home Office, the Foreign
	and Commonwealth Office, Crown Prosecution Service, and the Ministry of Defence all fund activities in the region.
	Specifically, DfID will deepen its development activities with Jamaica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda. It is our intent to support these countries efforts to return to growth while managing the risks from external shocks.

Diabetes

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of NHS England’s Action for Diabetes on the commissioning decisions made by clinical commissioning groups.

Earl Howe: It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission services that they assess are needed to meet the needs of their local populations. Action for Diabetes was published for CCGs, as a reference to the work that is going on across NHS England, and for the wider community interested in diabetes care, to show what action NHS England is taking in this important area.

Diseases

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with NHS England about improving the process involved in assessing medicines used for treating rare diseases as described in the recent Genetics Alliance UK Patient Charter Patients and Priorities of NHS England’s commissioning of medicines for rare diseases.

Earl Howe: NHS England has advised that it is considering the recommendations in the Patient Charter which was published by Genetic Alliance UK on 21 October 2014.
	NHS England is working with stakeholders to review the process through which it develops commissioning policies. NHS England is also considering whether it may be appropriate to reduce the usual 12-week consultation period where a technology affects a very small number of patients who have been actively engaged in developing a commissioning policy and whose views have been taken into account during that development.

EU Aid

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the value of United Kingdom overseas aid administered by the European Union in 2013; and what they expect the figure to be in 2014.

Baroness Northover: In 2013, the UK share of official development
	assistance funded from the EU budget was £813 million. UK’s contribution to the European Development Fund (EDF), a Member States voluntary fund not financed from the EU budget but also administered by the Commission, was £407 million. Estimates for the UK share of official development assistance funded from the EU budget in 2014 will be published in April 2015 as part of the provisional ODA: GNI statistics publication for 2014. The UK’s contribution to the EDF in 2014 is currently estimated to be £328 million.

European Union

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 20 November (HL2789), whether they will now answer the question originally asked namely, “whether they will consider recommending withdrawal from the European Union if their objectives cannot be met through negotiations”.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: I refer the noble Lord to my answer of 20 November, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA131.
	The Government’s position remains the same: the European Union must reform to become more competitive, democratically accountable and fair for those inside and outside the Eurozone. The need for reform is widely acknowledged amongst the EU Institutions and other Member States.
	The UK’s membership of the EU brings many benefits to the UK, including jobs and investment; a strong collective voice to negotiate free trade agreements; and greater international influence on global threats such as climate change and Ebola.
	This was demonstrated at the recent European Council last October where EU leaders agreed to the 2030 climate and energy policy framework—the world’s most ambitious targets so far—as well as agreeing to increase EU financial help to fight Ebola to €1 billion.

Foreign and Commonweath Office

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many overseas-based Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff are employed in the United Kingdom and how many are local employees; what percentage of its overseas staff will be local employees in 2015 and 2020; and what assessment has been made of the impact of the increase in the number of local employees on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's overall future effectiveness.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has 1686 UK staff members deployed at its Missions overseas. It has
	9,097 local staff members across its global network, which represents 67 per cent of the FCO’s total workforce. We do not expect this proportion to shift significantly, and our overall goal is for a workforce made up of UK and local staff that delivers an effective organisation through professionalism, expertise and knowledge.

Gaming Machines

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce further regulations on B2 gaming machines.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Draft regulations have been drawn up and have been submitted to the European Commission for comment under the terms of the Technical Standards Directive. ?These regulations will end unsupervised stakes above £50 by requiring customers to interact with betting shop staff or open an account before being permitted to proceed. We intend for these to come into force on the April 2015 common commencement date.

General Practitioners: Pay

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 5 November (HL2465), what is the amount of the enhanced payment for each of the 20 medical conditions listed.

Earl Howe: The 20 medical conditions listed in the answer of 5 November (HL2465) relate to indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme that provides additional reward to general practitioner practices for how well they care for patients based on performance against a number of agreed indicators.
	Each indicator is assigned a number of QOF points, further detail is set out on the NHS Employers website:
	http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/primary-care-contacts/general-medical-services/quality-and-outcomes-framework
	QOF points are awarded according to level of achievement. In 2014-15 there is a possible total of 559 points. The value of each QOF point is set out in the Statement of Financial Entitlements and is currently £156.92. The final payment is weighted to take account of the practice population.

Guinea-Bissau

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will continue to support the mandate of the United Nations Peacebuilding Mission in Guinea Bissau.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK supported a three-month roll-over of the mandate of the UN’s Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) at the UN Security Council last month. The UNIOGBIS presence in Guinea-Bissau is an asset to political dialogue, strengthening state institutions, supporting security sector reform and combating drug trafficking. We look forward to seeing the recommendations of the strategic assessment mission on reconfiguring the UNIOGBIS’s mandate that will be included in the Secretary-General’s report on Guinea-Bissau in January 2015.

Guinea-Bissau

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the success or otherwise of the current European Union External Action Service interventions in Guinea Bissau.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK welcomes the fact that the EU has been able to respond quickly to the positive evolution of the situation in Guinea-Bissau through the suspension of Article 96 measures and rapid agreement on a 20 million Euro State-Building contract. We hope that with further improvements on the ground, the Union will remain a close development partner of Guinea-Bissau through funds available in the 11th European Development Fund.

Guinea-Bissau

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have provided advice or other support to the Security Sector Reform programme in Guinea Bissau in each of the last three years.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK did not recognise the Guinea-Bissau transitional government established following the military coup of 2012, and therefore did not provide advice or any other support to its Security Sector Reform programme.
	The UK welcomes the return of constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau following the democratic Presidential and Legislative elections earlier this year and agrees with the importance placed on Security Sector Reform by the new government in Bissau.
	We welcome the important steps that have already been taken, such as the removal of the former Chief of the Armed Forces, Mr Antonio Indjai, and will continue to work through the UN and the EU to ensure sustained commitment and provision of support for Guinea-Bissau’s peacebuilding efforts and stability.

Health Services: Greater Manchester

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the outcome of the Healthier Together consultation in Greater Manchester will be published.

Earl Howe: This is a matter for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Greater Manchester.
	The deadline for responses to the public consultation on Healthier Together passed on 24 October. Over 23,000 responses were received and the feedback is now being analysed.
	On 17 December 2014, the Greater Manchester CCG Committee in Common will consider what further work is required following the close of the public consultation.

Health: Screening

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the eligible population have been offered an appointment under the NHS Health Check Scheme for each year since the scheme began.

Earl Howe: Data on NHS Health Check offers has been collected nationally since 2011-12. In 2011-12 and 2012-13 14% and 16.5% of eligible people were offered an NHS Health Check respectively. In 2013/14 the programme became a mandatory service with all local authorities delivering it and 18.4% of the eligible population was offered an NHS Health Check. The data for the programme is published each quarter for the 152 local authorities responsible for providing this service on:
	www.healthierlives.phe.org.uk

Health: Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what National Health Service datasets are available to compare the mental and physical health of people from Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities with that of the rest of the population; and what those sources yield by way of trend information since 2011.

Earl Howe: National Health Service datasets do not enable comparisons to be made between the mental and physical health of the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities with that of the rest of the population. These datasets—such as the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities dataset—use the nationally mandated ethnicity categories from the NHS data dictionary, based on the 2001 census groups. These groups did not include Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities. The 2011 census included a new ethnic category group for Gypsy or Irish Traveller.
	The National Inclusion Health Board’s report, Hidden Needs: identifying vulnerable groups in data collections: vulnerable migrants, gypsies and travellers, homeless people and sex workers published in March 2014 recommended
	the adoption of the 2011 census ethnic classification by the NHS data dictionary. The Department, the NHS, Public Health England, and the Health and Social Care Information Centre are considering how this recommendation could be implemented whilst ensuring data consistency.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Walton of Detchant: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to bring forward regulations which will permit the implantation of embryos free of harmful mitochondrial mutations into the uterus of women carrying such harmful mutations.

Earl Howe: The Government will update Parliament as soon as possible with regard to these regulations.

International Commission on Missing Persons

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support has been provided by the United Kingdom to the International Commission on Missing Persons in each of the last three years.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK has been a strong and consistent supporter of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) since its creation in 1996. We support the ICMP in all of its program areas—the Western Balkans, Colombia, Iraq and Libya. The UK has provided grants to the ICMP for the following amounts: 2012: £18,101; 2013: £160,407; 2014: £253,051. These grants have supported projects which relate to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) identification activities at the Tomasica Excavation Site in Bosnia and aiding the Government of Libya address the issue of missing persons. The UK also provides political support as the ICMP’s work supports our wider objectives on justice and accountability. With our Dutch colleagues, the UK has successfully led a recent initiative to develop an international agreement that will grant the ICMP a new, international legal status.

International Commission on Missing Persons

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect to secure international agreement on the legal status of the International Commission on Missing Persons as an international organisation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Yes. The UK and the Netherlands have led a recent initiative to draft an international agreement that will accord the International
	Commission on Missing Persons the status of an international organisation and we expect that the UK and other States will sign the agreement shortly.

Iraq

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what immediate action they and their partners will take to meet the urgent needs of refugees and displaced people in northern Iraq, both inside and outside camps, and in particular for food and schooling for children.

Baroness Northover: The UK has allocated £39.5 million to the crisis since June to ensure that the needs of those who have been displaced are addressed. This funding will allow partners on the ground to deliver a range of basic life-saving assistance such as food, water, shelter, sanitation and medical care. This funding included support for the World Food Programme to provide food assistance to displaced people, and support to UNICEF for child protection activities.

Islamic State

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which governments they are aware of which have paid ransoms to IS; and what discussions they have had with them.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UN Al Qaeda Sanctions regime sets out the international legal framework. It makes clear that ransom payments to terrorist organisations are illegal. All UN Member States are bound by this. We are unable to comment on reports of ransom payments by other countries.
	The UK policy position is clear. We do not pay ransoms or make any other substantive concessions to terrorists. Ransom payments strengthen terrorist groups and encourage them to carry out further kidnaps. This is why the UK has also led the drive to secure agreement on the principle of not paying ransoms. Under UK Presidency in 2013 the G8 made an unequivocal commitment to reject ransom payments to terrorists. The UK also secured the first standalone UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) on tackling terrorist ransom payments, which was unanimously adopted in January 2014, as UNSCR 2133.

Ivory Coast

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the political situation and stability in Ivory Coast since the end of the civil war there in 2011.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: There has been significant progress in stabilising Ivory Coast since the post-electoral crisis of 2010/11, but more needs to be done. Much depends on further reconciliation between the government and opposition, as well as the elections in October 2015, which must be free and fair. We, therefore, welcome the inauguration of the Independent Electoral Commission on 30 August, and the resumption of opposition participation in that Commission in November.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) raised these issues with Ivorian Foreign Minister Diby at the UN General Assembly in September, as well as with the Ivorian Minister for Industry and Mines on 2 December 2014.

Learning Disability

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to implement any of the changes suggested in the Winterbourne View report.

Earl Howe: The Department welcomes the Sir Stephen Bubb report, Winterbourne View: Time to Change, commissioned by NHS England.
	Officials will work with NHS England to consider the report’s recommendations in the context of the ongoing system-wide Transforming Care programme, established in response to events at Winterbourne View Hospital.
	On 13 December 2013, the Department published Winterbourne View: Transforming Care One Year On which was a review of progress to date and the on-going work to ensure the right, high quality care for vulnerable people is delivered.
	A further commitment was made in Transforming Care for the Department to publish a further two year on progress report. This will be published in 2015 following the publication of the 2014 Learning Disability Census data. This will set out progress made by the Department’s system partners in implementing the commitments in Transforming Care.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in its negotiations with Israel during the peace process, the Quartet will apply strict conformity to the requirements of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: There are currently no Middle East Peace Process negotiations.
	US Secretary of State Kerry has made clear that the US is fully committed to bringing the parties back to negotiations, and we would look to the Quartet to play a supportive role should they resume. During the last round of negotiations between July 2013 and April 2014, the Quartet called on all parties to take every possible step to promote conditions conducive to the success of the negotiating process and to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they will make to the government of Israel in the light of the finding by Defence for Children International that 10 children were killed by live ammunition in the West Bank in 2014.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised the high number of Palestinian civilians killed—including ten children—at the hands of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since the start of 2014 with a high-ranking Israeli military official on 26 November. He urged robust investigation into these incidents, and encouraged restraint on the IDF’s use of live fire to control crowds.

National Savings Bonds: Pensioners

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will announce the exact rates on pensioner bonds, as promised in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget speech.

Lord Deighton: Budget 2014 announced government plans for National Savings and Investments (NS&I) to help support savers by launching in January 2015 a choice of one and three-year market leading fixed-rate savings Bonds for people aged 65 or over. Interest rates on the Bonds will be confirmed on the 12th December 2014.

NHS: Finance

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect the National Health Service to operate at a deficit for 2014; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such deficit on performance.

Earl Howe: The Department group contains almost five hundred separate National Health Service organisations. The Department is required to contain the total spending of all of those organisations within a set of financial controls operated by HM Treasury
	and approved by Parliament. Despite significant pressures, the Department expects to contain spending within these financial controls in 2014-15.
	Alongside financial balance, maintaining performance against waiting time standards is a priority for the Government. The NHS is experiencing unprecedented demand for its services from a growing, ageing population with complex health needs which is making delivery of consistently high quality, timely care within its budget ever more challenging. Performance against a range of quality measures remains high but some patients are not receiving treatment as soon as the Government would like. Robust year-round operational resilience planning and performance management, backed by additional funding, is in place to help the NHS recover performance against waiting time standards in 2014-15.

NHS: Negligence

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much the provision for clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service has grown in the last year; why it has grown; and what strategy is in place for reducing that amount.

Earl Howe: As at 31 March 2014, the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHS LA) estimates that it has potential liabilities of £26.1 billion, of which £25.7 billion relates to clinical negligence. This is an increase of £3.1 billion from 31 March 2014, which can mainly be attributed to a continual rise in clinical negligence claims over recent years. There are a number of factors driving this increase, including the rise in the number of patients cared for and in the complexity of their care; and the general rise in litigation across a number of sectors including the NHS, driven in part by ‘no win, no fee’ agreements. It is anticipated that the effect of the latter is likely to diminish as a result of the Government’s Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act of 2012.
	The Department believes the best way to reduce negligence claims is to improve patient care and safety. In March 2014, the Secretary of State for Health issued a call to action to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world and achieve a three-year goal to halve avoidable harm and save 6,000 lives. The Sign up to Safety campaign embodies the ambition of the NHS to build a culture of safety, bringing together individuals and organisations with a contribution to make towards the patient safety goal. Elements of this campaign will focus on a reduction in avoidable harm that can lead to compensation claims. Organisations that sign up are setting out what they will do to strengthen patient safety, including a safety improvement plan which shows how their organisation intends to save lives and reduce harm for patients over the next three years. The NHS Litigation Authority, which already provides a “safety and learning service” to
	trusts
	,
	will support those organisations which have patient safety improvement plans that show a likely reduction in their higher volume, higher value claims.

Nigeria

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of current levels of religious tension in Nigeria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Christianity and Islam remain the two main established religions in Nigeria. They share a history of tolerance and peaceful coexistence. The terrorist group Boko Haram is attempting to challenge Nigeria’s secular state and democratic constitution by attacking all Nigerians who do not follow their extremist and intolerant views. Their activities do not command widespread popular support and have caused immense suffering in both Muslim and Christian communities.
	The UK is helping Nigeria build its own capacity to tackle Boko Haram and stop such attacks. The Department for International Development has two programmes directly addressing conflict in Northern Nigeria which include work with religious leaders.

Orphan Drugs

Lord Walton of Detchant: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to make available for prescription under the National Health Service orphan and ultra-orphan drugs for the treatment of rare diseases now emerging as a result of recent research discoveries.

Earl Howe: It is for clinicians to make prescribing decisions based on their patients’ individual clinical needs.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a number of drugs, designated by the European Union as orphan drugs, in technology appraisal guidance. NICE is also responsible for the evaluation of selected high cost, low volume drugs under its Highly Specialised Technologies Programme.
	National Health Service commissioners are legally obliged to provide funding for drugs that have been recommended in NICE technology appraisals or highly specialised technologies evaluations.
	We are commissioning an external review of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. This review will consider how to speed up access for NHS patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices.

Palestinians

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funds the European Union has contributed to the Palestinian National Security Forces during the last three years; what, if any, bilateral contribution they made; and whether they will propose that all such Forces be made accountable to the Palestinian people.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The EU does not directly fund the Palestinian National Security Forces. The UK and EU do fund projects aimed at supporting Palestinian state building. It is important that the Palestinian Authority continues work to build and maintain the institutions and economic underpinnings of the future Palestinian state, including transparency and good governance.

Pancreatic Cancer: Drugs

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with NHS England regarding unmet need in respect of pancreatic cancer treatment when re-evaluating medicines on the Cancer Drugs Fund list.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with NHS England regarding innovation in pancreatic cancer treatment when assessing medicines for inclusion on the Cancer Drugs Fund list.

Earl Howe: We have had no such discussions. These are matters for NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund clinical panel.
	The panel plans to meet on 15 and 16 December to assess, on the basis of the latest evidence, whether certain drugs should continue to be made routinely available to new patients through the Fund and to consider a number of new drugs for potential addition to the Fund.
	In making such decisions, the panel will take into account a number of factors, including unmet need.
	NHS England has assured the Department that no patient whose treatment is currently being funded through the Fund will have funding withdrawn, as long as it is clinically appropriate that they continue to receive that treatment. In addition, no drug will be removed from the Fund where it is the only therapy for that condition.

Secure Colleges

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost of their consultations on proposals for secure colleges.

Lord Faulks: The Government has conducted two consultation exercises in relation to Secure Colleges: the Transforming Youth Custody consultation which closed in April 2013, and a consultation on Plans for Secure College Rules which closed on 27 November 2014. Costs associated with the consultation on Plans for Secure College Rules are currently being confirmed, but we estimate that the total cost of these consultations will be approximately £27,950. The majority of this estimated cost relates to consultation with young people in custody, conducted by the providers of advocacy services across the youth custodial estate. This total also includes the cost of engagement events, printing of the consultation papers and the Government response to the Transforming Youth Custody consultation, and the translation of these documents into Welsh.

Stem Cells

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the mitochondrial diseases listed in Annex D of the Mitochondrial Donation consultation document, February 2014, include degenerative neurological conditions; whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has received any suggestions from either research licence holders or nominal licensees that stem cells derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer “are likely to carry very low levels of mtDNA mutation and are therefore likely to be suitable for therapeutic use” to “treat degenerative disease caused by mtDNA mutations” as described in Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/srep03844); and what assessment they have made of the feasibility of treating neurological conditions associated with mitochondrial disease in this way in light of findings recently reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell (DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2014.11.003) and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Volume 111, no. 26, pages 9633–38).

Earl Howe: We are advised that all conditions listed in Annex D of the mitochondrial donation consultation document ultimately lead to progressive degenerative neurological conditions.
	The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that one of the research projects it licenses is investigating the use of embryonic stem cells “to improve the outcome of infertility treatments, and to make progress towards the wider application of IVF-based techniques to help prevent and treat degenerative disease”. The latest interim inspection report relating to this project can be found on the HFEA’s website at:
	http://guide.hfea.gov.uk/guide/InspectionReport.aspx?code=17&s=l&&nav=3
	The HFEA has also advised that it has not made the assessment stated by the noble Lord in respect of the two journal articles.

Tickets

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to address transparency in commercial ticket re-selling for the benefit of consumers.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: I will continue to discuss the secondary ticket market with ministerial colleagues and the relevant stakeholders, including discussion of options that will help consumers to make informed ticket purchases in a safe and secure environment.

Unemployment: Young People

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in (1) the United Kingdom, (2) the South West of England, and (3) Bristol, are not in employment, education or training a year after having left (a) compulsory education, (b) further education, and (c) higher education.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS to Baroness Royall of Blaisdon dated December 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking Her Majesty’s Government how many people in (1) the United Kingdom, (2) the South West of England, and (3) Bristol, are not in employment, education or training a year after having left (a) compulsory education, (b) further education, and (c) higher education. (HL3007)
	ONS compiles labour market statistics for areas smaller than the UK from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Unfortunately it is not possible to reliably answer this question using information from this source.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at http://www.nomisweb.co.uk.

West Africa: Ebola

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on measures to deal with those passengers entering either that country or the United Kingdom from areas where ebola is at present widespread.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had any discussions with the public health authorities in the Republic of Ireland regarding co-operation with health authorities in the United Kingdom on any threat to either jurisdiction by incoming passengers from areas where ebola is widespread at present; and if not, why not.

Earl Howe: Jane Ellison, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Public Health, had a discussion with Leo Varadkar, the Irish Health Minister, on 30 October where they discussed a number of issues around Ebola. In addition, Dr John Watson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, had a general discussion on Ebola with his Irish counterparts on 11 November.
	In addition, there are ongoing discussions at European Union level between officials in which both the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom representatives participate.